Werewolves and Mutants
by JamieTyler
Summary: Jesse and Brennan go werewolf hunting, and things don't go as well as they hope.


**Werewolves and Mutants**

"I don't like this," Jesse whispered as he and Brennan scanned the abandon space underneath an almost forgotten overpass.

Above them, a car rushes by, as if the driver was trying to escape some unseen attacker. It was dusk and quickly turning dark, making the surrounding shadows press in on the two mutants. The space they stood in was oppressive, heavy with its isolation, almost as if it were a void in a reality. It was a place that even existence had forgotten. There was no motion to the air, no sound from anything around, except for the two men. It was just too creepy a setting, and it didn't help that they were there to investigate a series of deaths.

"Not exactly warm and fuzzy, is it?" Brennan agreed with his friend as he too took in the space. The spray-painted words of "Death," "Monster," and "Freaks," sent a shiver through him that he managed to hide.

"Hey Adam, are you sure we're in the right place? I mean, we're not suppose to be out at a club or anything, right?" Jesse half joked over the coms.

Adam chuckled as he answered, "Sorry Jess, you're in the right place. Shalimar and Emma are just north of you two searching the surrounding area for any traces of the suspects or missing homeless. And you two are where all of the bodies have been found."

"And the missing homeless?" Brennan asked as he scanned the shadows. The street kid in him was on edge, as if something wasn't right. Glancing over at Jess, he could see that the younger man was growing calmer and quieter, a sure sign that he too was feeling edgy. 'So it's not just me then,' Brennan thought as he shifted his focus back to the shadows.

"All the missing homeless have been from the local area and just about all of them have been identified as victims," Adam answered.

"Adam, the police have gone over this place with a fine tooth comb, and there aren't any homeless here. What is it that you want us to do?" Jesse asked, wanting to get the hell out of this place. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong.

"Yeah Adam, you have Shal and Em out 'hunting', but the police thinks these attacks were done by a pair of dogs. I mean, if this was where they got their victims and now there's no one here for these dogs to hunt, shouldn't we be with Shal and Em with a dog whistle?" Brennan asked and received a grateful look from Jesse. Apparently, he was feeling the same way as Brennan.

"You two are looking for evidence of ferals, more specifically wolf ferals, Bren. I've seen the crime scene photos, and trust me, no dog could have done this."

"Are you saying that we have werewolves Adam?" Jesse joked, trying to hide his disgust. He had seen the photos too, and by the looks of the wounds he could tell that the victims had been eaten.

Again, Adam chuckled as he answered, "well, in a sense, yes. We have werewolves."

"Great," Brenna joked, "So, Jess, if you get bitten I have to shoot you with a silver bullet."

Jesse glared at his teammate, "Just try it. I'll be the first werewolf that phases and masses. Besides, Hollywood never get's it right. You gotta chop the head off."

"Oh, so you're an export?" Brennan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh, you read enough comic books…" Jesse said with a shrug and a grin.

Brennan just sighed in amusement and shock his head, "decapitation's too messy. Think I'll just fry you."

"Oh, that'll go over well with Shal."

"Hey, the way I see it, I'd be doing her and all of Sanctuary a favor," Brennan smirked.

Jesse's glare sharpened to the point that it nearly cut Brennan, "How so?"

"Well, dogs and cats…wolf's and lions…there has to be peace in the mountain. And, Shal was a feral first. It's only fair," Brennan said with mock sincerity.

Jesse sighed and shook his head with an amused smile, "so I suppose that you would then take over the computer repairs and tech work? Sense you were the one who fried me, so it's only fair."

The smirk left Brennan's face as he thought about it and he cringed, "You're right, we should just let Adam fix you."

"Yeah…thought so…. and why do you assume I'm the one who's going to get bitten anyways?"

Brennan shrugged, "I have ranged attack, you have melee. You're close range, which means you'll have more contact. Just works that way."

"You say I spend too much time on the computers, at least I'm not playing World of Warcraft…."

Brennan was about to make his retort when Adam interrupted, "Boys, can we please get back to the subject at hand."

"Sorry Adam," Brennan said still glaring at Jesse who just smirked and shrugged.

"I want you two to look around and see what you can find. Wolves hunt in packs, so there will be at least two of them so be careful," Adam ordered.

"We will be," Jesse promised and the joking from earlier gone. "Contact you when we find something."

With that, the boys were alone in the space, and instantly on edge. They fell into a practiced formation; Brennan remained near their exit while Jesse scouted on a head. Neither mutant strayed far from the other, it was the unspoken rule; you stayed where you could be in reach of your teammate.

"Werewolf hunting," Brennan mumbled, "just another thing to add to the resume…"

Jesse chuckled, "Only if you plan on applying to an Asylum or something…"

"I thought I was already working in one…"

Again Jesse chuckled, "It could always be worse."

Brennan sighed, still grumbling to himself, but kept a careful watch on the area Jesse was walking into. Behind him, movement broke the stillness of the space, causing the air to grow cold. In front of him shadows started to move around him, heading behind him. Leaves rustled as other shadows joined the mix and Brennan grew tense.

"Jess, hold up," the older man called, stopping the younger's advance.

Jesse turned to face Brennan, the tension on his face telling his friend he had seen the shadows too. His eyes moved around the space, searching the area behind Brennan with near feral precision. He was silent a moment before mouthing, "There are two. I think."

Brennan nodded.

"Fall back?"

Again, Brennan nodded and began to focus his body for a fight. He stayed his ground as Jesse made his way towards him, keeping an eye on the younger man. Jesse, for his part, moved calmly, but with purposeful strides. He was not panicked, but he was on edge. So was Brennan, and he grew more and more edgy as he watched Jesse's advance, wishing he'd move faster. And just when Jesse was only a few feet away, the Shadows moved in, growling, causing Jess to pause. His eyes darted around nervously, trying to locate the sources of the sound. Unfortunately, the sound bounced around the structure of the over pass creating an echo.

Suddenly, all hell broke lose as a figure emerged from the shadows attacking Brennan from behind. Jesse had just enough time to call out a warning causing Brennan to turn, but he was too slow to avoid the body that hit him. Brennan landed hard on his back, knocking the wind right out of him. The shadow figure landed on top of him and got two good hits off before Jesse could get there, knocking Brennan unconscious. Jesse had been momentarily frozen by the sudden appearance, but as the shadow moved in for the kill, Jess plowed into him in a semi-massed form.

The two wrestled for a moment, until the second shadow attacked. He took Jesse from behind, yanking the blond off his partner and placing him in a headlock. Jesse struggled but the arm at his throat did not allow for enough air to phase. His struggle to free himself quickly became a struggle to breath. In front of him, the shadow that had attacked Brennan had become a man with brown, glowing, eyes and dog like teeth. Jesse had no doubt that the man that held him had a similar appearance.

The feral in front of Jess, slowly climbed to his feet while his partner kept Jesse pinned on his knees. The first feral moved over to Brennan and examined the still unconscious mutant. There was a gash just above Brennan's right temple that was bleeding pretty freely, telling Jesse that he was on his own.

His examination over, the feral looked over to his partner, "Save this one for later." He then pointed to Jesse, a hungry smile on his face, "This one now."

Jess renewed his struggles, causing the feral that held him to violently yank on his right arm. There was a sickening pop as Jesse's shoulder popped out of socket. The sudden wave pain caused Jesse to scream and rendered him helpless. Any movement would jar his injured arm and send sharp spikes of pain through out his body, so the only thing he could do was remain as still as possible.

The first feral laughed as he knelt in front of Jesse. His eyes danced with hunger and amusement as he examined Jesse. He reached out and lightly ran his fingers along Jesse's jaw line. "Good rabbit," he said sadistically, and then moved his hands to Jesse's shirt.

He worked quickly, ripping away the thin fabric of the t-shirt and pushing aside the leather jacket so that Jesse's torso was left exposed. He then leaned in and licked Jesse's abdomen, drawing a line with his tongue from Jesse's groin to his throat. He looked up at his partner, glee in his eyes, and said, "Tastes like sugar."

Jesse fought back a whimper as he felt the feral behind him shift and jar his arm. The feral behind him leaned in, and he too licked Jesse, tracing a line along his neck. Jesse shivered as he felt a smile form against his skin, terrified of what would happen next. He only had a second to prepare before the two feral mouths were ripping into him, one at his stomach and the other at his collar. This time, he couldn't fight back the scream.

It was the scream that reached him, the vocalization of his friend's pain. It brought him back to consciousness. At first, Brennan couldn't make sense of what he was seeing, but as Jesse's screams started morphing into desperate gasps; he was able to clear the fog in his head. The first thing he did was spark up.

He sent a blast, straight into the back of the feral feasting on Jesse's stomach. The feral jerked and fell on top of Jesse, dead. The other feral startled and tore his mouth away from the nearly unconscious Jesse. His eyes fell on the dead form of his pack mate before quickly moving to Brennan, who was attempting to stand.

Brennan couldn't look at the feral's face without needing to vomit. The feral's mouth was smeared with Jesse's blood and when he snarled, his teeth had pieces of Jesse's flesh in them. It was too much for the element and he had to look away. Big mistake because he looked right at Jesse.

Jesse was pale and covered in his own blood. His eyes were unfocused and glossy. A small trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. The only sign of life from the blond were sharp ragged gasps. Brennan wasn't sure how Jess was still alive.

The feral roughly shoved Jesse aside, and lunged for Brennan. Brennan had killed his pack mate, and Brennan was going to die. With a feral snarl, he aimed his teeth for Brennan's throat.

Brennan fell back onto his butt, bracing for an attack when he heard a roar; a lioness roar made by human vocal chords. And then a flash of blond hair and the wolf feral was taken down into the shadows. Brennan was lost, staring blankly and confused at empty space, until gentle hands touched him.

"Brennan! Are you ok?" Emma asked, her voice soft and calm.

"Yeah…Jesse…" Brennan grunted as he tried to stand.

"Stay there," Emma ordered, leaving before he could argue.

Brennan watched her approach the motionless body of their injured friend, while listening to the fight somewhere off to his left. By the sound of it, Shalimar was winning and he hopped she gutted the bastard. His attention went quickly back to Emma when he heard the red head sob out Jesse's name. He watched her sink to the ground, saw the tears in her eyes, and felt his stomach tie itself in knots.

"Adam!" Emma cried, "We need the Helix here now! As close as you can get it to us, and you better come too…."

"Emma, how bad?" Came Adam's tight reply, it was a sure sign of the scientist was panicked. But how could you be calm and collected when Emma was panicking?

"Jesse…They were eating him Adam…" Emma cried, "He's…his stomach is torn open…."

Silence fell, except for the sound of a bone snapping. Brennan looked over to where Shalimar stood over the body of the wolf feral. The wolf had been dead the moment Shal smelt Jesse's blood in his mouth. Brennan felt nothing as he watched Shal release the body of the wolf, letting him flop to the ground. She leaned over the body and Brennan heard her snarl, "My pride, mine!"

Her eyes then meet Brennan's and the harsh, animal glow bleed away and grew warm with concern. She started to make her way over to Brennan, but he waved her off, "I'm fine. Jesse's not." That was all the encouragement that she needed, she left Brennan to stumble to his feet and was by her 'cub' in a heartbeat.

By now, Emma had collected herself and had settled herself next to Jesse, holding his hand, but she released her hold when she saw Shalimar. The mama lion very carefully pulled Jesse into her arms and cradled him close to her. Brennan half fell, half sat next to Emma, allowing the younger women to support him as he gave into the weariness in his body.

As for Jess, his breathing had grown shallower and he had begun to shiver. His pale skin was smeared with blood and dirt, serving to make him look much younger then he actually was. His eyes would occasionally flutter open, but they were unfocused and unseeing. With each passing moment her grew weaker, and his three-team mates grew more worried.

It took forever for Adam to arrive, but once he did everyone snapped to attention. Everything happened so fast after that. They had gotten Jesse back to Sanctuary where Adam and Shalimar set about stabilizing Jesse. Emma was charged with stitching Brennan up, but remained close at hand in case she was needed.

Thankfully, Jesse was not as bad as they had first thought. Bloodless, lack of oxygen, and severe pain had sent him into shock. It was touch and go for a time, but Jesse managed to pull through.

The wounds were nasty, and while they hadn't gotten deep enough to cause permanent damage, they did get infected. With Jesse being so weak, the infections were devastating. But after three days, his fever broke and a few days after that, he was allowed out of the med-bay with Shalimar to watch over him.

Now, a week after Adam released him from the med-bay, it was a full moon, and Brennan made his way towards Jesse's room. The blond was there with the girls fussing over him. Shalimar was supporting him as Emma cleaned the wounds and changed the bandages much to the mortification of Jesse. But someone had to do it for him, sense his dislocated shoulder wouldn't allow him to do it, and the task had quickly become a two-person job. Each time the bandages were changed caused Jesse great discomfort and someone had to hold him still while another changed the bandages.

"How's the patient?" Brennan asked as Emma finished.

"He's a big baby," Emma teased.

Jesse was leaning heavily on Shalimar, his face scrunched up in pain, yet he still managed to stick his tongue out at Emma.

"Stop it," Shalimar scolded lightly as she ran a hand through Jesse's hair, then turning her attention to Brennan, she asked, "What's in the box?"

Brennan smiled and rattled the box, catching the attention of the other two in the room. "This, Shalimar, is a box of silver bullets." Brennan nearly started laughing at the looks his three teammates gave him; the girls' looks of confusion and Jesse an icy glare.

"You're a jack ass," Jess grumbled and Brennan couldn't hold back his laughter any longer.

"Uh, mind filling us in?" Shal asked, looking from one boy to the other.

"It's a full moon, Brennan thinks I'm going to turn into a werewolf," Jesse answered, "And Bren, if I do turn fuzzy tonight, I'm coming after you. Silver bullets or not."


End file.
